DYECREST INTERVIEW

Another power metal band from Finland ... oh no, I can hear you think ... well, just wait till you get your ears on DYECREST, because this band sure doesn't sound like most other power metal bands. This is old school heavy metal with lots of balls and atmosphere, and I love it :) What better reason do we need to talk to drummer Niko? Right, so let's get started ...

Interview by Claus Jensen

First of all, congratulations on a really good debut album. I definitely wasn't expecting as good a product as this, since I'm one of those persons getting more and more tired of the whole power metal movement - it's nice to see that some bands can still surprise me :-)

"Thank you so much! It's always a pleasure to hear that someone likes our stuff!!!"

First up, please let me know a bit about the band up until you entered the "Young Metal Gods" competition … what was the band doing before that? How long time have you been together? What is the meaning behind the name Dyecrest?

"Well…Pirkka, Jukka and I (Niko) have been playin' together already since 1993. Of course at first it was just for fun and we played in our garage… But from the very beginning we started to write our own songs (first of them, I think, was called Iron Heat… :-)). Then we had quite a few line-ups throughout the years, but I would say that Dyecrest was starting to get shape when Matti joined the band in 1996. We made few demos and some gigs, but nothing special, really. Kind of a "last missing link" was found back in 1999 when we got Janne to sing in our band. It was really necessary to have a decent singer to be able to write the kind of songs we wanted! And then, in 2001, we decided to ask Henri to play the third guitar to the band, and that was the time when Dyecrest (though then still known by name Dyecast) was born! I don't hink that Dyecrest as a name means anything. For sure you can divide the words dye and crest, and they have a meaning, but together…at least I don't know!"

How did you hear about the "Young Metal Gods" competition, and how did you get in contact with it?

"We read about it from the Finnish music magazine "Soundi". We decided to participate the competition and to send our "Lost Faith"-demo to the "Soundi"."

Firstly you were the chosen band among the Finnish candidates to represent your country in the competition, then you got picked out to play at the finals in Germany and when you played there, you were one of the 3 bands to win a record deal … wow, this must have been a really turmoil filled trip for you. Can you describe how this all felt for you?

"Actually we were just drunk, it wasn't a trip, we don't do drugs, HAHAHAA!!! :-) To the point… Yes, we were very pleased to hear the results, and we certainly had a party to remember (well, some of us don't remember it that good… :-)) after we had the information that we will be among the three who will be signed! It all felt really cool, 'cause, after all, a record deal had been our dream for a very long time!"

Many young bands dream of signing with such a big label as Noise/Sanctuary - for you it's real … how does it feel now?

"I think I almost answered to this already in the previous question…. But anyway, it still feels f***ing great, maybe even better than just after the competition, 'cause now when the album is about to be released and all this stuff really becomes real, we can be very happy to have such a great label as Noise/Sanctuary behind us!"

Do you have any kind of hesitations about this deal with Noise/Sanctuary? I mean, you weren't a band THEY chose to sign, but you're with them now because you got so high placement in the competition … do you think they'll treat you differently than the bands they find by themselves?

"We don't have any reason to doubt that we wouldn't be treaten right, well, properly etc. So far everything has worked out great, the communication between us and Noise has been very easygoing and we are convinced that they really wanna take good care of us! (And, after all, it was Noise who build up this competition, no one forced them to do this… :-) At least I think that also the Noise/Sanctuary people are pleased with the results they got from the competition)"

Your album was produced by Piet Sielck, who is quite an institution on the power metal scene - what was your experience from working with him?

"We strongly believe that it was great to have such an experienced producer on our debut album. He really has this strong vision of heavy metal. He was kinda strict with his opinions in the studio, and when he decided something, there wasn't much to discuss about that subject… But in the end, when you don't have so much time in the studio, there has to be this one guy who has the final power to decide which way to go. And another good thing about Piet was that if he didn't like some part of a song and thought that it should be done differently, he istantly had an idea of how it should be, and as a great singer and a guitarist, he was able to show the guys how to do it!"

Your album can best be described as power metal, but it just doesn't compare to most of the bands that we usually associate with this genre. You aren't "epic", "symphonic", "bombastic" or any of those clichee things that we always hear mentioned about new power metal bands - instead you play a more old school heavy metal style with lots of power. How would you describe your album?

"I'd really really like to call our music just Heavy Metal… I don't like this categorising of the bands at all. I miss the times when Scorpions as well as Kreator were just heavy metal… :-) But I think you have a point when you say that we play more old school style with lots of power there!"

The Finnish power metal scene is definitely filled with bands in the "clichee-genre" as mentioned above … Stratovarius, Nightwish, Requiem, etc … but there's also a more "old school" movement in Finland with such bands as Tarot, Machine Men and now you. What can you tell me about the Finnish scene from your point of view?

"For sure the Finnish scene is very lively nowadays (and I guess it has always been but now the bands are better and they get more publicity). From our point of view…hmmm…Well, let's say that there are many younger bands (for example Twilightning and Machine Men) coming up to challenge the "oldies" as Stratovarius. And I think that's a very good thing, 'cause competition always makes everyone push the best out of themselves!"

Do you have any favorite songs on the album? The reason I'm asking is that to me this album has a high consistency throughout, and I don't feel any songs are better or worse than others - it's a really good thing in my opinion …

"I guess at least "For All The Weak" and "Last Man Standing" are songs which everyone in the band likes. And "Kneeling Down" is also one of our favourites because the lyrics, music and Janne's vocals manage to capture the feeling in quite a unique way in that song."

The cover artwork, the album title and many of the song titles are pretty dark mooded - what's the idea behind that? Is this a concept album about darkness, pain, desperation, etc.?

"No, The Way of Pain is not a concept album, but it deals mainly with the darker thoughts and the hard moments of life. I have written all the lyrics for the album (except Until Death Do Us Part, which has lyrics written by Janne), and I think that to write is a great way to clear up your thoughts through some difficult times. It's kind of therapy for me…"

With such a great start to your career as this seem to have been, what are your plans for the future? Where lies the next "goal" for you?

"Well, we are rehearsing for the forthcoming gigs (which we'll hopefully have…) and we have already written some new material. I guess the next goal for us is to make as much gigs as possible to promote "The Way of Pain"-album, as well as our live show and have a good time while doing those gigs! And in the future, I wish we will have a chance to make a second album, too!"

With the support of Noise/Sanctuary behind you, I'm sure you'll be able to go out on a good tour, as support act to a big-name band … is this something you've already started planning?

"Of course we are hoping something like that to happen, but nothing concerning a tour has been confirmed yet."

Any last words to our readers?

"May the year 2004 be good to you and KEEP UP ROCKIN'!!!"